Why all the WICKED hate?

[Phan#24601]

Posted: 3/31/13 at 2:27am

It was my first musical obsession, and the first show I remember seeing in a theatre-3 times in the same run-with Megan Hilty playing G(a)linda! So why do you guys hate it so much? I loved it every night.

[bwayphreak234]

Posted: 3/31/13 at 2:29am

Not this game again... Pleaseee no.

[Jsturt]

Posted: 3/31/13 at 2:44am

Because its a terrible show the end

[GavestonPS]

Posted: 3/31/13 at 3:52am

Okay, but why is it "terrible"? I only know the album, which is inconsistent, but contains some gems including, "Loathing", "Popular" and "Defying Gravity".

Updated On: 3/31/13 at 03:52 AM

[rosscoe(au)]

Posted: 3/31/13 at 4:05am

musical obsession, that is the answer right there....

[bwayphreak234]

Posted: 3/31/13 at 4:25am

I'm bored and having nothing better to do, so I will bite... I can go on and on and on about my problems with Wicked.

My biggest problem with Wicked is that is did not stay more true to Maguire's novel which I found to be a literary masterpiece. Intense, substantial, dark, vivid, striking, and beautiful. The musical is NONE of these things. It took Maguire's concept and title, and created a "bubblegum" and "cotton candy" teeny bopper theme park musical with a lousy score and terrible book. The ending of the show is ridiculous and basically just took a massive SH*T on the theme and message Maguire so eloquently wove into the novel. I honestly do not even think the musical should have been allowed to have the same title as the book.
My other problem is the atrocious design elements that clash and create a mismatched train wreck that is not pretty to look at it. Let's start with the clock theme. The whole concept for the design is based off the Clock of the Time Dragon - something that was VERY pivotal to the plot of the book. The Clock of the Time Dragon is referenced maybe two or three times during the show, but apparently it makes sense to have it act as THE central concept and heart of the set design. The cogs, gears, and metal are just plain ugly IMO... Then there's the costumes that look like they were ripped out of a Dr. Seuss book. The costumes just don't work, and are way too over the top... Again, this is all my opinion. Wicked is one of the shows that LOOKS expensive. You can look up at the stage and see it is a big high-quality intricate production. However, I have never seen a show look so expensive and plain ugly at the same time.
Then there's the book and score. If the musical had stayed more true to the book, this show could have been something extraordinary and groundbreaking instead of just a mega theme park show holding court at the Gershwin. The musical could have/should have been MUCH darker. The book and score are too fluffy for my liking, especially considering the dark and deep messages, themes, and tones in the original book.

So that's why I hate Wicked. It's an entertaining show, but I find it to be one of the most overhyped and ugliest shows I have seen. It's a mash of fluffy nonsense mixed with some ugly design elements and underdeveloped characters and plot points.

Again, this all my opinion... The OP asked why all the hate, and there they have it.

[dramamama611]

Posted: 3/31/13 at 5:18am

I don't hate the show, but I don't think its all that. I have no reason to ever see it again.

I agree with much of what was said above, particularly the parts about straying from the intent and themes of the novel. The musical they created is a kiddie ride of fluff.

I've seen it several times (3, maybe 4) and each time I was less impressed and the flaws became more glaring. The last time I went I brought my kids -- they were enamoured of it and I loved hearing my son figure things out...but he was 8 or 9 -- he liked the Gazillion Bubble Show, too.

In a nutshell, Wicked is what I dislike in a broadway show: all glitz and little substance.

[yankeefan7]

Posted: 3/31/13 at 7:26am

I personally liked it and I am not a twenty something fan girl. It is entertaining and the two times I saw it the performances by the leads were wonderful. I enjoy most of the music but will admit I may be a bit biased because Stephen Schwartz went to my HS and I know people who went to school with him. While some people think it is all "glitz" and not much substance my reply is so what. Isn't Broadway supposed to be a mixture of both? IMO - some of the "hatred" is due to the incredible commercial success of the show and this is the same thing that happened to "Cats", "Phantom" etc.

Updated On: 3/31/13 at 07:26 AM

[mc1227]

Posted: 3/31/13 at 8:13am

I liked Wicked but didn't LOVE Wicked. I felt the same about Rent when it was running. Friends of mine saw these shows dozens of times and I couldn't understand it. They also have problems with me liking a show like Nice Work better than Newsies. It's all a matter of taste and preference, so if you love Wicked, go see it as much as you like and don't worry about what others think.

[dramamama611]

Posted: 3/31/13 at 8:31am

I only answered why I don't love it. I have no problem with its success or fangirls (as long as they aren't screeching next to me).

But I agree that many use their fan base AS the reason to dislike any show. Or even any show that many like here -- seemingly just to be arbitrary.

Look at both Pippin and Matilda reactionn: it seems the more people love a show, the louder the naysayers.

[Tink2]

Posted: 3/31/13 at 8:39am

I really liked Wicked. I have never read the book. I keep telling myself I will, but then talk to people who read it and hated it. This is the first time I've ever heard anyone say they actually liked the book. Most say it was so bad they couldn't even finish it. They describe it as very dark and way too political. I guess I need to bite the bullet and see for myself.

I don't find the score bad. I especially like For Good. I thought it was very clever how the story tied into everything we know in The Wizard of Oz. I truly think it would be too much of a downer if the show had ended differently. And, yes, I do believe they were wanting to attract a young audience , along with an older one. I just took my sister, who is a little older than myself, to see this last month and she really liked it.

[Luv2goToShows]

Posted: 3/31/13 at 8:45am

No Hate here, I enjoyed it but it did not blow me away or bring me even close to the point of it becoming a musical obsession for me. There were two girls ahead of me who said hey saw it over 80 times, I could not help thinking as I left, why would someone want to see this so many times.

[SeanMartin]

Posted: 3/31/13 at 8:45am

When it opened, words cannot describe how much I loathed that show. But it's grown on me, since I've learned something about its pre-production. For exaple, Eugene Lee designed the set on spec and brought in this monstrous model before even seeing the script, which is why the Clock is such a major design element. After seeing the script, he wanted to revise it, but the director and producer team were so enamored by it that the insisted it be the one used.

The score is uneven, but it's not a complete washout. Better than most, in some ways, far inferior in others. It's grown on me over the years. Not a classic by any stretch, but enjoyable enough. Yes, they really went the wrong way vis-a-vis the novel, but had they stayed truer to it, it wouldnt have run for what's now, what, a decade? Longer?

[Patti LuPone FANatic]

Posted: 3/31/13 at 9:03am

24601: As long as you like it, that's all that matters. Every show has its detractors, it seems. from RC in Austin, Texas

[dramamama611]

Posted: 3/31/13 at 9:11am

I LOVED the book. I loved nearly every book Maquire has written. But I LIKE art that is dark and makes you think.

I can only imagine that the people that can't get through it are likely expecting it to be like the musical and, also, that they are not readers of novels with darker themes.

[Jungle Red]

Posted: 3/31/13 at 10:06am

I'm with dramamama611. The novel, while a little darker and more political than the other Maguire novels, is almost perfection. Elphaba is a perfect protagonist: Strong and independent, but in the end, she's a victim of her own destiny, if you will. The first few chapters set in motion exactly what Elphaba becomes. She is only "wicked" because that's the only choice she has left.

Would Wicked: The Musical, if it was really based on the novel, have the same success as the watered down love triangle we have today? Probably not. Would it have been immensely better in more capable hands? Yes.

I actually love the set and the look of Wicked. Too bad the Time Dragon Clock design makes no sense.

And that ending? Please. THE BITCH DIES. The end.

[FindingNamo]

Posted: 3/31/13 at 10:11am

Well, Sean Martin just posted that tidbit that I had never heard before about Eugene Lee designing the set on spec. Of course he would have expected the clock to be a very important part of the story because he had read the novel. What were the creatives thinking other than, "It makes no sense now but it looks so good, let's keep it!"?

[Kad]

Posted: 3/31/13 at 10:11am

Finally, after nearly 9 years, this topic is being discussed!

[Jordan Catalano]

Posted: 3/31/13 at 10:12am

People are still on about this shlt, huh?

[Phan#24601]

Posted: 3/31/13 at 10:13am

Technically my first was the PHANTOM film, which I later found out was not that great after discovering the copy of the original London cast recording, and that became my first musical obsession. The first musical I saw on stage was THE LION KING- which I enjoyed thoroughly-but I was only around 10 years old, and now have little knowledge of that live show. So WICKED is the first show I remember seeing and falling in love with. It was the first time I got the special feeling about something that I could not explain, and from then on I have become a crazy musical theatre fangirl. By the way...I realize that being a crazy musical theatre fangirl is more intense than what you would classify me...I guess I am actually pretty tame. I'm more musical OCD, so if your playing your music on shuffle and a song from a musical that I know comes on, I will just kind of hope you will skip it because I only want to hear it with the rest of the recording. I don't participate in the squealing and belting of "Defying Gravity"...EVER.

Updated On: 3/31/13 at 10:13 AM

[broadway guy]

Posted: 3/31/13 at 10:16am

People hate wicked cause Most theatre nerds are jaded snobs who look down on shows that are popular and have a huge fan base.That seems to be the case for Most on here.

[Jordan Catalano]

Posted: 3/31/13 at 10:18am

Scary.

I remember when people fell in love with musical theater and became fans of musical theater, not obsessive fangirls who scream and squeal like pigs being brought to slaughter whenever they see even a mention of the 269th Elphaba replacement.

Up until not too long ago, being a fan didn't mean being batshlt crazy.

[broadway guy]

Posted: 3/31/13 at 10:22am

Yeah it's a sad world in theatre these days.Fan girls are annoying but one of the great things that wicked does is it gets kids and teens interested in theatre.

[Jungle Red]

Posted: 3/31/13 at 10:22am

I blame the RENTheads for starting this trend, but I could be wrong.

"Most people" can't tell the difference between art and a good BM.

[Wynbish]

Posted: 3/31/13 at 10:24am

Why all the hate of differing opinions?
Updated On: 3/31/13 at 10:24 AM